(from the diaries by streiff because wishful thinking
isn’t a bad reaction to impending doom)

The Media have declared Donald Trump has gained the
required number of delegates for nomination, plus one: 1238. This is a
misstatement, because he is not officially nominated until 1237 delegates vote
for him at the convention. So not only has the fat lady not sung, she’s
still in her dressing room, deciding who she’ll sing for.

Thing is, many of the Trump delegates—in their
hearts—support Ted Cruz. In fact, informed sources indicate that, were they
allowed to vote their consciences on the first ballot, delegates believe they
have sufficient votes to nominate Ted Cruz at the convention. (Numbers
difficult to confirm at this time.)

Trump strikingly unfit to be president

Those sources also said that delegates live in fear of
death threats from Trump supporters, and threats from Roger Stone to release
delegate’s hotel rooms—something the craven GOP has done nothing about,
to their shame. In social media, Trumpers even threaten people who refuse to
vote for Trump in November!

His incitement of these types, and refusal to call them
off is but one indicator that Trump is unsuitable for the Oval Office. We’ve
also seen neo-Nazis launch loathsome
anti-Semitic attacks against a Jewish writer whose GQ profile displeased
“Empress Melania,” as they call her. DT refused to condemn
the assault, when confronted by Wolf Blitzer.

Shockingly, other Jewish journalists have been similarly attacked by Trump
followers. It is with great regret that I quote leftist outlets, but our media
are busy worshipping the Golden Calf.

We must ask: Has the GOP lost its sanity? How can
it field such a candidate? This Trumpian madness is already being used to paint
all GOP candidates.

Convention delegates have the power – and the duty to
choose the best candidate

Most state rules dictate that delegates are bound, or
pledged to vote for their designated candidate on the first ballot; some on the
second also. But all-important is the first ballot vote: if Trump wins 1237 delegates
on that ballot, he is nominated. But if he doesn’t, ballots continue until
someone does get 1237. That was the system that nominated Lincoln and that is
the system today.

I’ve written several times that rules committee member
Curly Haugland has repeatedly declared the delegates are free to vote their
consciences on the first ballot. In a letter to the RNC
membership, in March he said: “Delegates have been bound only once in the
history of the Republican Party: In 1976.”

He cites a 2006 statement by Tom Josefiak, of the RNC
Counsel’s office:

“‘One of the important rules changes over the last 50
years has been the unit rule prohibited…that change was made so that an
individual delegate can vote his or her conscience.’ (transcript, RNC Standing
Committee on the Rules, January 19, 2006 pp 93-94)”

“That’s right,” Mr. Haugland wrote, “Every delegate to
the 2016 Republican National Convention is a completely free agent, free to
vote for the candidate of their choice on every ballot at the convention in
Cleveland in July. Every delegate is a Super delegate!”

Haugland refers to Rule 38:

“No delegate or alternate delegate shall be bound by any
attempt of any state or Congressional district to impose the unit rule. A ‘unit
rule’ prohibited by this section means a rule or law under which a delegation
at the national convention casts its entire vote as a unit as determined by a
majority vote of the delegation.”

“‘The media has created the perception that the voters
choose the nomination. That’s the conflict here,’” He said. “The political
parties choose their nominees, not the general public, contrary to popular
belief,” he added.

“The United States Supreme Court has held several times
that political parties enjoy protection from both the First and Fourteenth
Amendments as they pursue their political objectives. The Republican Party is
free to choose whether or not they want to be governed by state laws,” Haugland
argued in a written statement.

“RNC spokesman Lindsay Walters told CNBC that delegates
are not free to vote their consciences on the first ballot: “‘Delegates
are bound according to the rules written by the state party.’” But: a CNBC study
found these SCOTUS
decisions support delegates’ right to vote as they choose:

“RNC rules or not, a political party has power over the
states and could override their binding rules, according to two Supreme Court
rulings: Cousins v. Wigoda1975 and Democratic Party v.
Wisconsin ex rel. La Follette,1981.”

Therefore, the primary vote—much bragged about by Mr.
Trump—does not give him the nomination; the delegates at the convention do.
Indeed: his claim to be supported by “the people” is false: the total he
got so far, is only 42% of GOP primary voters, including crossover Democrats:

Total votes: 27,900,288

Trump:
11,606,701 = 42%

Non-Trump: 16,293,587 = 58%

So where are we, the 58% who voted against him,
represented? If events proceed unchecked, we will have been silenced by a minority
of the party, and a clearly unfit candidate will be nominated.

Three sources confirm Curly Haugland’s opinion

Okay. What is the corroboration for Curly Haugland’s
assertion that convention delegates have the right to vote their consciences on
the first convention ballot, even if bound to a candidate?

First, in 2012 that is precisely what happened at the GOP
convention. The Las Vegas Review-Journalreported that:

“During a roll call of the states to nominate Mitt Romney
as the Republican presidential pick, Paul delegates refused to vote for Romney
as required under binding rules of Nevada’s GOP presidential caucus, which the
former Massachusetts governor [had] easily won on Feb. 4.

“Instead, … they followed their consciences with 17
voting to nominate Paul and five more abstaining. Five Romney-loyal delegates
voted to nominate him as planned.”

Second, you can read the official results on the Green Papers, in the
two columns on the right. The “Hard Total” column reflects the “count of the
National Convention delegates as they are formally allocated … under the rules
governing the selection of such delegates in each state.”

It shows that, of the 28 total Nevada delegates, 14 were
bound to Romney and 5 to Ron Paul. But the “Floor Vote” column shows that
Romney got only 5 votes on the convention floor; 17 voted for Ron Paul. Mr.
Haugland told the writer that happened in other states as well.

“In 2008, the RNC Legal Counsel legally interpreted the
RNC rules and concluded that all delegates, regardless of state party rules,
could vote for whomever he or she chooses at the Republican National
Convention.

“The significance of this legal interpretation by the RNC
lawyers is that all delegates are free to vote for any candidate regardless of
any such “binding.” Because the RNC was the organization that conducted this
legal examination, their ruling trumps all state GOP rules.

“In the past, ‘bound’ delegates have attempted to vote
for a candidate they were not ‘bound’ to and not once have they been
disallowed. Not only is there credible legal interpretation of this
scenario, it has been found that there has never been a ‘bounded’ delegate
forced upon his or her will to vote for a ‘designated’ candidate by his or her
state GOP party.” [Emphasis added.]

The RNC legal counsel, in 2008: “The RNC does NOT
recognize a state’s binding of national delegates, but considers each delegate
a free agent who can vote for whoever they choose.”

The situation in 2012 was similar to that today, in that
a number of delegates bound to Mitt Romney were in fact Ron Paul supporters.
Haugland also told this reporter that the vote is by secret ballot, and that
delegates should insist that secrecy be preserved. So delegates need not fear
reprisals from Trump supporters.

No comments:

Sam on Bob Harden Show

Who Is Aristotle the Hun

"Aristotle the Hun" was the name given to me more than 30 years ago when a friend noticed that in spite of my intellect I was still an Iowa farm boy.

Rev. Sam Sewell, is Director of Best Self USA, a Pastoral Psychotherapist, serves on the faculty of Naples Community Hospital as an instructor for Clinical Pastoral Education, President of the Theological Center in Naples, a member of Mensa where he serves as Gifted Youth Coordinator, a U.S. Navy Veteran, and a Member of the Association For Intelligence Officers. He is a frequent commentator on mental health and religious issues.His award winning research on family issues is published in several languages. Member of Sigma Delta Chi Honor Society

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"Though defensive violence will always be 'a sad necessity' in the eyes of men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers should dominate just men."- St. Augustine

"A new idea is first condemned as ridiculous, and then dismissed as trivial, until finally it becomes what everybody knows." -

William James

"This is the real task before us: to reassert our commitment as a nation to a law higher than our own, to renew our spiritual strength. Only by building a wall of such spiritual resolve can we, as a free people, hope to protect our own heritage and make it someday the birthright of all men." --Ronald Reagan

A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government."-- Edward Abbey

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."John Stuart Mill

"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government." ~~~George Washington

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“A nation that substitutes emotion and empathy for rational thought will eventually digress into the Dark Ages,”Congressman Steve King (R-IA),

INTEGRITY: The highest courage is to dare to be ourself in the face of adversity. Choosing ethics over convenience and truth over popularity means there is never a wrong time to do the right thing.

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.

The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

They may be more likely to go to Heaven for good intentions yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be “cured” against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.~ C. S. Lewis

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." ANON

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